All Rise...

The Charge

A new mother…winning the battle against breast cancer.

The Case

Meet Lori Benson, a 38 year-old aspiring filmmaker. Shortly after giving
birth to her daughter, Talula, she discovers she has breast cancer. A huge dark
cloud emerges in her sky of joy, and now Lori must begin a battle which will
consume many months. She goes through surgery as well as chemotherapy, with
tremendous support from all of her friends as well as her husband, Jonathan.

An extraordinary, intimate documentary short subject, Dear Talula has
a power and urgency which most feature-length films lack. Benson is one of the
millions of women who are attacked without warning by this devastating disease.
She boldly tells her story as a cinematic letter to her young daughter, who has
a 50% chance of carrying the same gene.

What drives the film through its 34 minutes is Benson's perseverance and
strength, with tongue firmly in cheek, as she turns this negative tide into an
upbeat and inspiring one. Dear Talula could have easily become a
depressing, Lifetime Channel-style weeper, and it ends up being a memorable
must-see for all, particularly women. Hopefully this will at least be nominated
for an Academy Award Best Doc Short Subject, as it already has received several
accolades.

First Run Features gives Dear Talula a most respectable digital
treatment. The shot-on-video, full frame presentation is clean and free of
debris. The music and songs are treated to an effective DD 2.0 Stereo track,
although there are no subtitles. Extras are better than expected, with a 3-min
piece also directed by Benson with several interviews of breast cancer survivors
and a 5-min look at Benson's journey in spreading her message. To top it all
off, we have a gallery and a breast cancer guidebook, which can be accessed on
your DVD-ROM.